Ghosts in the Past
by Dark and Chaotic
Summary: A powerful ancient scroll sends the members of a special military task force into the past. Having been surrounded by false ideals, lies and hidden conspiracies, they try to understand what is more important: going home or a new, brighter future.
1. Chapter 1

Past Future Tense

a story by

Chaotic of Dark and Chaotic

Summary: A group of a Military special task force from the distant future ends up in the past, or rather, the present. In a world where their specialized skills and knowledge of the future could mean the difference between salvation and apocalypse, they must find a way to go back home or consent to change the future.

Chapter One

The weather was horrid, but there was little else to be expected in the middle of the night at such heights. Hadn't it been for this blizzard that struck out of no where, they would've been at home base by now, handing in their report. Having their mission accomplished meant absolutely nothing if they could not deliver the target. Another bout of turbulence hit the helicopter and Seishiro had to refrain from cussing. Her sharp blue eyes, warped in a perpetual scowl, glanced at the Pilot's cabin. One could say that it was raining icicles outside. It might as well have been were it not for Ryuzen, the team captain. Seishiro looked at the pilot, who was a fellow Hyuuga but from a different division. The one division that still possessed the original Hyuuga bloodline- The Main Branch family. While the name itself was merely a shout out to the past, it was also rather accurate, for it had been the Main Branch that had somehow preserved their doujutsu. Nowadays nearly all of the best pilots were either Hyuuga of the Main Branch or White Corps Uchiha. In fact, their current set up of pilot and co-pilot was just such- Hyuuga Byakuya and Uchiha Yuumei of the White Corps Uchiha.

Her captain was Uchiha Ryuzen, of the Black Corps, and he was a bearer of the Rinnegan, another artifact from the past. It was his shield that kept their helicopter still in the air. He was a tall young man that looked at least 15 years older than he actually was. No surprise there, really, as it was always so with the Black Corps Uchiha with Rinnegan. They over-exerted themselves quite oftenly, making their average lifespan little over 40 years, if they managed to live that long. Rumour had it, however, that her captain was of the 'new strain' of Rinnegan bearers and that he carried that even rarer Uzumaki gene. Seishiro wasn't one for rumours but if that were the case then he would be lucky to pass at least 70 years of age.

'Taichou, can't you do anything about the weather, the target's getting restless with all of the Turbulence.' one of her teammates adressed Captain Ryuzen.

'I am doing what I can, Daiki.' Ryuzen responded and the resumed focusing on the invisible shield that surrounded and somewhat protected all of them. Kuroda Daiki had always been an impatient one. He was also another rare gem in their special task force team. A Mokuton user in a world where trees were something rare to see. Mokuton in itself was not exceptionally rare, in fact, most of the current agriculture was dependant on them to grow and work the crops. Daiki's Mokuton was, however, an exceptionally potent one, and he himself was quite the talented young man with a bright future ahead of him. Headstrong and determined, he was a son of farmers who had managed to scrape among the elite of their military strenght. Mouse brown short spiky hair, light skin and hazel eyes, he had a perpetual friendly smile on his face that matched his open-minded personality perfectly. He was no doubt the friendliest person of their team, followed by, strangely enough, their captain (but only when he had a bit too much to drink). It was for that reason why he was tasked with keeping their target safe.

'We should have been there by now.' said a quiet, but grave voice.

'We should have, Ghost-san, but, as you can see, even I am incapable of completely overwhelming mother nature...or at least what is left of her.' Ryuzen allowed himself a small polite smile at their newest addition, the Ghost Trooper.

The Ghost Troopers were the Elite of the Elite. Specially bred and trained to do one thing only- Their leader's bidding. As much as Seishiro hated to admit, their own Ghost addition happened to be a polite person, who did not get on her nerves (surprisingly) and who also happened to be of undefined gender. Seishiro suspected that Ghost was a young boy, at least that was what she could discern from the slightly muffled from the mask voice. After all, all Ghosts wore stylized masks and hooded dark cloaks. This one's mask was ivory white with three blood red diagonal claw-like markings going across one side. The mask was oval shaped, whit two small openings for the eyes. The cloak was of a thick black material and while Seishiro suspected he used it to cover up his small and slim frame, what she saw underneath proved otherwise. Ghost was wearing a standard Akatsuki no Dakusaido _(Dark Side of the Red Moon)_ outfit. It consisted of some sort of body armor with lots of pockets and small pouches added to it. Utility wear, similar to their own, but designed specifically for their line of work- Stealth, Saboutage and Assasination. It was impossible to tell whether one was male or female by just looking at the Ghost as the armor was also designed to eliminate such visual breaches of personal information.

The Dark Side of the Akatsuki was an organization founded by their leader, Madara. They dealt with every dirty little job that Madara-sama would think of. So naturally, when they were tasked with acquiring their target, who supposedly carried a fire based bloodline, the appearance of this new member of their team, who preferred to be called just Ghost, was absolutely no surprise. Unusual yes, but surprising? No. At least the boy was exceptionally polite and by no means arrogant.

The last two members of their team were the technician and the medic. The technician was a slim, tall man with wiry build and a prominent nose that had been broken at least three times ( two of which were of her own doing). As much as he was a technical genius and the man who doubled as hacker and communications expert, he was also incredibly aggravating. That Holier than Thou attitude, his constant complains and generally irritable nature made him to be often at odds with Seishiro, who was less than acceptable of dealing with any kinds of bull crap. As much as Seishiro hated his guts, she could not deny the fact that he had probably saved their asses more times than she could count. And that usually from the safety of their transport – an ATAV, a helicopter, a submarine or whatnot. He did his job well, and that was good enough for Ryuzen, and by extension to her. His name was Kenta, which was exactly the opposite of what his bespectacled body looked like. He didn't have a last name but that was quite the often occurence nowadays, as more and more families on the edge of starvation donated their 'surplus' children to the military reqruitment system, hoping to give them a better future.

Their medic was the eldest member of their team. The 47 year old Nakamura Yoko did her job and did it well. While she was their first medic, they, as a team, had been her seventh. She was a woman of tremendous experience and also one that exuded a no-nonsense attitude. She was a dark skinned slim lady with bright orange eyes and dark, nearly black brown hair, pulled up in a tight bun. In some way all of them looked up to her. Her experience on the field was second to none and Ryuzen often took his time to chat with her, absorbing any piece of advice she could offer. She was perhaps the most academically knowledgeable person in their team and her etiquette could put even one of their Upperclassmen to shame. It was no wonder why all of them, even Ryuzen, referred to her as Yoko-sempai.

Usually the way most of them adressed each other was informal, without adding any honorifics such as -san, -chan and so on. But all of them reffered to Yoko as their Sempai. While Ryuzen was their team leader, it was Yoko that had kept them together for the last 4 years with her words of wisdom, counseling and nimble healing hands.

'The target will wake up soon. I will apply the Forced Sleep Technique in 15 minutes if we do not reach Homebase soon.' Yoko stated after doing a check-up on their target.

'Tighten your seatbelts, team, we are about to hit a turbulent zone.' Byakuya's voice echoed from the pilot's cabin. 'It's going to be a rough ride.'

'Secure the Target!'

'Byakuya! The engine has failed!'

'Hold on, I'm doing emergency landing!'

'Is everyone allright? Yoko-sempai, is the target allright?' Seishiro asked as soon as they landed roughly somewhere on this god forsaken mountain.

'The target is alright. No harm has come from the landing.'

'I think I broke my glasses.' that was Kenta.

'Your glasses are perfectly fine, Kenta.' Seishiro drawled, trying not to sound too annoyed.

'Ryuzen, you don't look that well.' Yoko gave her captain a look.

'I am allright. I just hit my head when we landed.' he let out a silent groan and rubbed the back of his head. There was a tender spot and he was certain a bump would appear there sooner or later. That was not helping the migraine that was squeezing his brain since the moment they took flight. Yoko was going to scold him again, he was certain.

'Byakuya, how secure is our location?' Ryuzen finally asked.

'We are situated on a small plateau-like terrace next to the near vertical jagged slopes of the mountain. There are 2 meters of compact snow beneath our feet and some 3 meters beneath that of ice. Further down I see only solid rock with trace amounts of Alluminium and Iron deposits. There is a small opening to a stable cave system 25 meters directly southwest of out location. We can wait out the blizzard there.'

'Very well. I will need to move the helicopter to that position there, or as close as we can. Yuumei, retract the rotor fins and activate the safety mode. Ghost-san, I would like you to keep the target safe. Daiki come here and help me secure our route.'

'Hai, Taichou.'

Seishiro silently followed her team through the tunnel of wood that Daiki had created. As soon as she reached the entrance to the cave, she set out to light up the immediate area around her. Ghost came in the cave last, carrying their target piggyback style, as she was larger than Ghost and he could not carry her any other way. Seishiro quickly set down a few blankets.

'Leave the target here and help me secure our immediate surroundings, Ghost-san.'

'Ryuzen collapsed!' Daiki rushed in with Yoko and their Captain.

'Damn it. I told him he was overdoing it. Stubborn as he is...hn. Sempai, what is his condition?'

'Let us set him down so I can check him up.' Yoko stated and just as Daiki and herself set down the tall man next to their target, Byakuya and Yuumei entered, carrying a large crate with holes.

'Taka-chan was getting restless, so I decided to let her stretch her wings here. What happened with Taichou? I saw him collapse.'

'Over-exerted himself, the poor thing. I told him to take it easy today but he wouldn't listen. Stubborn that boy is. He should feel lucky our mission is an easy one. Not counting this freak weather of course.'

'This blizzard really did start without warning, Even Byakuya was surprised by it.' Yuumei stated, while petting Taka-chan, Byakuya's Peregrine Falcon. Or rather, Seishiro's Peregrine Falcon, which had decided very early on that it liked Byakuya better than her owner. So much for being an elite tracker of the Eagle Branch of the Hyuuga family.

'There was only a sudden pressure drop. Nothing else seemed out of the ordinary. This entire area seems to be some sort of microclimate pocket. Right above us is the meeting point between the two peaks and further south there is a valley, covered by ice, but a valley none the less. It is possible we just had the bad luck to pass through here at a bad time. It's night after all and the temperatures are probably going to drop with at least 15 degrees more.' Byakuya made a face as he kept looking about their area with his all seeing eyes.

Seishiro sighed. Byakuya knew his stuff. As a Hyuuga of the Main Branch Family he was supposed to be able to see everything withing a huge distance with great detail. His personal specialties were geology and meteorology, which, along with his job as a pilot, allowed him to accomplish a vast variety of assignments and also gave them an astoundingly good overview of their missions' locations. In a sense, Byakuya, along with Kenta, formed their very own mini Intelligence.

'So we have to stay here until the weather calms down.' Seishiro stated.

'And until our Taichou feels better.' Yoko added, her palms covered with the tell-tale green healing chakra and hovering about Ryuzen's skull. 'Seishiro, you are our vice-captain. I suggest you formulate a plan of action.'

'I'm thinking about it, Sempai.' She stated and then took a deep breath and sighed. The air...'The air...'

'What about it, Seishiro?' Yuumei asked.

'It's ... so clean.'

All of the team members started sniffing the air and Byakuya activated his Byakugan yet again.

'There is an air current comming from within the cavern. It doesn't open on the other side of this mountain either. How peculiar.'

Byakuya stood up and Taka hopped from her spot on his lap onto Yuumei's lap. He turned towards the direction of his interest.

'What do you see, Byakuya.' Seishiro asked, turning to look at the same direction he was looking. Unlike him, she did not possess what was considered the pure Byakugan. Her eyes, however, were capable to see things in minute detail at great distances. Not unlike Taka-chan's vision. She also possessed a superior sense of smell and hearing, an echo from her Inuzuka ancestors, an ancient extinct clan that had merged with a branch of the Hyuuga many hundreds of years ago.

'The current is comming from a larger cavern but it's a dead end. It's practically comming out of no where.'

'Shouldn't we investigate it, Seishiro?' Kenta asked. He was busy tinkering with a small portable radio.

'We have around 12-15 hours to kill anyways.' Byakuya added.' We can allow ourselves to do that while we wait for the weather to clear. Plus I think there is something down there, but I can't see it clearly. Probably some sort of chakra resistant material but...'

'Is it man-made?' Yoko asked with interest.

'I can't see it clearly. Looks like a smudged shadow and that's about it.'

'What about anything living. Is this cave secure?'

'Haven't seen a single whisp of animal or human chakra. The place is pretty much very secure.'

'There's this something in the air. I can't put my nose on it though. It smells... green. Like vegetation... but... I am not exactly sure what it is. I think we should investigate it. Byakuya, how far away are we from the source?'

'A mile or so, maybe more.'

'That far? It's quite the huge cave system then.'

'It goes for quite a while throughout this section of the mountain. It looks like there were cracks and the melting ice water had expanded those cracks. But...the cave is stable and relatively new. So basically it this entire thing might've been man-made.'

'Or toad made.' Yoko suddenly said.

'Toad-made?'

'Indeed, Seishiro. This is, after all, the Myoboku mountain chain. This is, according to legends, where the toad summons lived. Or, rather, they lived in the valley that is on the other side of this same valley you mentioned, Byakuya.'

'As interesting as this is, I don't see how this would help us.' Seishiro said.

'It is said that during the Summon wars, the Toads hid their statues deep within the mountains. And these statues were actually toads and people who were turned to stone. They were very precious to their people. That is why I believe it is possible that the things Byakuya saw might be some of these statues.'

'You know, Yoko-sempai, sometimes I think you spend way too much time reading legends and...ahem... history books.' Kenta said with a slight scowl on his face.

Yoko merely smiled at him.

'It is a nice way to spend my free time, especially when the alternative is much less pleasant most of the time.'

'Very well then, we shall take a look. Yuumei, Daiki, Byakuya with me. Kenta, you try to make contact through the radio. Go outside from time to time and check the signal.' There was a mutter from Kenta that he knew his job well enough.' Ghost-san, keep an eye on our target. Yoko-sempai, reapply the Forced Sleep Technique when she comes to and please update Ryuzen on our situation when he wakes up. Let's go team. Byakuya, lead the way.'

'Hai, Seishiro.'

The four headed out, Daiki out front along with Byakuya, followed by Yuumei, and lastly, Seishiro.

'The walls look moist but they are actually dry. It is almost if they were glassed. Now I suspect fire or some sort of intence heat was used to shape this cave system.' Byakuya mumbled after some time.'There is no evidence of fire-based techniques being used though.'

'Even when they were cast hundreds of years ago?' Daiki questioned.

'Even then there would be some sort of mark on our surroundings. Especially in an area as desolate as this one. There would be nothing to wash away that print.'

'Then what do you see?'

'Water. Lots and lots of water chakra.'

'Toads were amphibians, after all.'

'Don't tell me you believe in that mumbo-jumbo Yoko-sempai talked about, Daiki' a small teasing smile played on Byakuya's lips.

'And the Summon wars were legend as well?'

'Only Madara-sama would know that. He has lived through them, after all.'

'Madara-sama is nearly a 1000 years old or so. And he hasn't really talked about the Summon wars but everyone knows about them.'

'By word and some books talking about them. It's not like it matters, Daiki. It's probably some minor conflict. You know it happened mostly in the Dairuki Prefecture and that place is currently under water. They probably used the sinking event to mythologize the war or something.'

'But imagine if there really was a Summon war. Like huge talking animals suddenly turning on us humans and stuff. Legend has it-'

'We all know that, Daiki. Nature started to die out little by little since the Summon wars. But I think that is just some terrorist propaganda or some such crap.' Seishiro butted in.

'Aww, Seishiro, you say that about half the stuff that we have to do.'

'And isn't it just that? Propaganda crap and hippie bullshit.'

'Well now, I grew up on a farm, so I might have some idea what's going on.'

'Uhuh.'

'Don't tease the kid, Seishiro, you know he is sentimental about his stuff.' Yuumei said, a teasing note in her voice.' It's not like Mokuton experts grow on trees.'

The group laughed, even Daiki.

'Well, since you put it that way, actually they do. Considering the fact Ma and Pa are Mokuton specialists themselves and Uncle Daisuke was in the special Moonbase division.'

'You talk about that Uncle of yours as if he is the third comming of Sasuke or something.' Seishiro deadpanned.

'Hey! Kuroda Daisuke planned and constructed Moonbase all by himself thank you very much!'

'Stop teasing the boy, Seishiro, you don't want him to start having confidence issues, now would you?'

'Yuumei! You're doing it as well!'

'I admit that Kuroda Daisuke was probably one of our lead specialists when it came to the Moonbase project, but that is as far as I will go.'

'You may want to stay quiet for a moment and let me concentrate.' Byakuya suddenly said.

'What is it?'

'There is a cave-in here, but I did not see it until now.'

'Hn. Weird.'

'This whole cavern is strange and I don't like the feel of it, to be honest. Things keep popping up and disappearing and considering my 360 degree vision is not defective in any way I am starting to wonder if this is not some form of Genjutsu. Though I highly doubt that still. It must be the latent chakra within the mountain.'

'Latent Chakra?'

'Yes. There is an oddly large amount of it spread out about the cavern and it seems to be leaking underneath the valley, near its solid rock sufrace beneath the ice.'

'That almost sounds like this here is-'

'A sleeping volcano.'

A chill went through Byakuya's companions.

'Is it safe here?' Yuumei's voice was slightly more high-pitched than usual. Byakuya mentally rolled his eyes. Any mention of geological phenomena and panic starts to ensue.

'It is safe, though as soon as we reach our destination we should use our gas masks as a precaution, even though I don't see any Carbon based gasses. In fact, the air gets even cleaner. Ah. There is the opening I was looking for. As soon as we take this turn we will see the cave in. Though now that I look at it from this distance it looks more like someone had stacked these stones here to seal the entrance.'

The four now stood before the stacked stones. There was a small hole on top of the pile that allowed the fresh air to pass through.

'We can go through there if we expand it.'

'Leave that to me.' Daiki said and forced his hands together. Several roots grew out of the solid rock and shot at the small hole, disturbing the rocks and expanding the otherwise too small tunnel. 'I think that should be enough.' The young man stated with a satisfied grin on his face.

888

'Mmmhnn' Satsuki groaned as she gradually started to wake up.

Today had definately not been her day. First she was woken up by a huge bird and then she had to answer before the village council (again) for that incident three days ago. And then those weird Military Task force people appeared.

And now.

Now she was here. Alone in some dark cave.

'The Target has woken up.'

Satsuki looked at the source of the voice. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw the dark hooded figure with the ghastly white mask with the red markings. She could feel the figure's gaze upon her and icy chills ran down her spine. A woman appeared before her vision and before she knew it, she was unconscious once more. Her golden eyes drooped to a close.

'I wonder how things are going with Seishiro and the others.' the woman, Yoko, mumbled, while petting away a stray lock of golden hair behind a small pointy horn.

'As per usual in such situations.' it was the Ghost Trooper that has spoken. Yoko looked at him with interest. 'Passing the time until it is safe to depart.'

That had been the longest sentence Ghost had ever used in a casual conversation. A small, maternal smile appeared on Yoko's lips.

'Children grow up eventually. And even then some never grow up. As long as we are confined here, we may as well enjoy some sight-seeing.'

'If you say so, Sempai. I still rather stay here, where is safe and sound, thank you very much. For all we know we might've stumbled on one of those abandoned Rebel Dwellings.' Kenta didn't even look up from what he was doing.

'Like last time in the Salt Flats? I highly doubt that. Didn't you see where we are? This place hasn't been entered in probably more than several hundred years, boy.'

'Here you go again, Sempai.' Kenta sighed and left the conversation pretty much with that exclamation.

Yoko shook her head, not at all pertrubed by his behavior. He was sour on his good days and if one managed to catch him in a rare elated mood, then that someone had to put up with his pompous attitude for approximately 30 minutes, after which Kenta would percieve that that particular person does not care one bit about the praise he had recieced from the Head of the Technological Advancement Bureau. Long story short, he would resume his default snarky, sour mood and since everyone was used to it in the team, nobody particularly lost any time of day brainstorming about it.

**888**

'It changed again.' Byakuya's eyebrows furrowed with both concentration and confusion. 'And I was looking for it. It just changed and I just saw it different and I couldn't pin-point when exactly it changed.'

Byakuya was referring to the constantly appearing and disappearing shapes near and far within his field of divination.

'I don't like this place.' Seishiro said finally, blue eyes narrowing. Still that scent...'Let's see what we will find and return to the others quickly.'

'Hai-hai.' Yuumei agreed, her Sharingan darting left and right, looking for something that would tell her what was going on. Even with her superior bloodline, she was unable to catch it in action.

Unlike the rest of his team mates, Daiki seemed to be getting more excited as they neared whatever they were going to inspect. Maybe in was the fact that, at this point, even with his non-enhanced sense of smell, he would practically inhale the smell of moist, fresh, green forest. The smell that was often accompanied by the extensive use of Mokuton when creating small artificial gardens, clearings, fields and... it smelled of home and happy childhood memories. Try explaining that to a group of sarcastic but mostly casual people that made up their team.

'Would you look at that. Yoko-sempai was right. Heh.' An impressed smirk spread on Seishiro's face as she marvelled at the extremely detailed and incredibly life-like toad statues, both big and small.'Gotta bring her down here. She'd like to take some pictures of this place.'

'Yikes!' Daiki yelped and retracted his arm as if it had been zapped. He tried to pick up one of the smallest statues but as soon as one of his hands had came in touch with it, he felt a strange, slightly painful but mostly startling surge, not unlike static. It was, in some way, chakra. Or at least somethign very similar to chakra.

'What happened Daiki?' Seishiro immediately inquired, her piercing gaze having immediately settled upon his form as soon as she had caught rapid movement. One of her hands was already gripping the handle of a pistol, purely by instinct.

'I wouldn't touch them if I were you.' Byakuya stated seriously.' Now I know why I cannot see these statues with my Byakugan. They absorb the chakra and become blank to my eyes.'

'Are they dangerious?' Yuumei asked as she glanced with her Sharingan from one statue to the other.

'What do you think?' Responded Byakuya.'I am starting to believe there was at least some truth in the Legends of the Summon Wars. These toad statues are ridiculously life-like.'

'Team. Come here!'

The three immediately looked at their Vice-Captain's location, at the other side of the Cavern. She was staring intently at the wall there.

'You have to see this!'

'Ano, there is nothing there Seishiro.' Yuumei stated.

'SEISHIRO!'

'Daiki!'

'I'm already on it!'

'ARGH!'

**888**

Taka-chan stirred and ruffled her feathers. Something had happened, and the Peregrine Falcon did not anticipate it to be pleasant. It never was. She looked at Ryuzen who was just comming to, Yoko already next to him, applying a soothing healing technique to his aching temples.

'Where are the others?' the captain immediately asked, albeit his voice was still very groggy.

'They went to explore the cavern.'Kenta stated, his mood more irritated than usual.

'How long have I been out?'

'Approximately 2 hours and 12 minutes.' Ghost replied, even though the question was more likely intended for Yoko.

'And the others? How long have they been gone.'

'About two hours as well.' Again, Ghost supplied.

Ryuzen slowly pulled himself into a sitting position. He noted the still form of the peacefully sleeping girl.

'Any problems with the Target?'

'None. She woke up as it was expected but I quickly put her back to sleep. Sweet child, isn't she?' Yoko smiled at the girl and then turned her full attention to Ryuzen again. 'I warned you, Ryuzen-Taichou. I will write a note to give you a prolonged vacation. Your body is overworked as it is. I want you to spend two weeks on a beach or in a spa, with a young bird or two to keep you company.'

A smile cracked on Ryuzen's face at the stern lecture Yoko gave him.

'Maa, I cannot leave my favourite team-mates all by themselves.'

'Taichou, Seishiro is bossy enough for the whole team. Your absence will only make her stricter.' Kenta grumbled.

'I suppose you are right Kenta. Still, I'd rather get all of us a nice long vacation. That way we can all be happy and 100 per cent ready to handle the job.' Ryuzen turned toward the Ghost Trooper. 'What do you say, Ghost-san? A nice big jacussi, beautiful shapely women and martini in hand, eh?'

Ghost remained silent.

'Eh, I guess you are no fun then.'

'The bird appears to be distressed.' finally Ghost said.

'Hm?' Ryuzen glanced at Taka-chan.

Kenta and Yoko also looked at her.

'That is rather unusual. You okay, girl?'

The bird spared him a glance and then ruffled her feathers once more.

'Something must've happened with Byakuya or Seishiro.' Yoko said quietly.

'Ghost-san-' Ryuzen started but the Ghost Trooper was already moving.

'Already on it.'

Kenta sighed audibly. And this was supposed to be a simple little mission in the middle of nowhere to retrieve a girl with supposed Fire related Kekkei Genkai. Hell, their target had small horns. For all they knew it might not have been fully human, considering some of the rumors that had started circulating at the Technical Advancement Bureau. The radio wasn't picking up any signal. The weather was trying to kill them. They were stuck in a cave with no way to go down on foot and to top it all off they had to babysit a Ghost trooper. It happened on occasion to work with them but notwith one of them IN their team. The brat was unnervingly silent and stealthy. Not even his cloak made any sort of sound. No wonder they were called Ghost Troopers.

**888**

Ghost silently went through the various tunnels and caverns that littered the inside of the entire mountain. The trek was utterly quiet and there was a sense of tension in the cold and strangely fresh air. At one point Ghost saw where Daiki used his Mokuton to widen an opening in a cave-in. There was a very dull humm of some kind and that forced the trooper into a further state of alertness. With Sharingan active, Ghost cautiously made steps forward, ears straining to define the source of the humm.

'Yuki-chaaaaan!' a small child exclaimed to the front left of the Ghost. The trooper froze as the apparition skipped closer and closer, until it just disappeared. Ghost took several minutes to regain the ability to breathe calmly again. Perhaps it was some sort of illusion? Ghost continued forward, fists clenched in order to keep them from trembling.

The Sharingan finally picked up something. Whisps of some sort of energy flowing chaotically and yet still barely on the edge of the senses. It was a large cavern, filled with Toad statues. And there, at the far end, was a scroll – the source of the mysterious chakra currents. The trooper came closer. And then, voices started talking- the voices of the team she was assigned to follow during the mission.

'I wouldn't touch them if I were you.' that was clearly Byakuya's voice.

'You have to see this!' Seishiro exclaimed and literally appeared before Ghost's eyes. The apparition of the vice captain went through Ghost and neared the scroll. She picked it up and the scroll lit up pulsing waves of energy.

'SEISHIRO!' The Uchiha pilot yelled in alarm.

The waves of energy formed vines of light that crept up towards the the team members. The vice-captain stood still, like a statue, an expression of shock wr

'Daiki!' Byakuya commanded, though slightly needlessly,as the Mokuton user was already throwing seeds on the ground. They rapidly grew into sprouts and from sprouts to small slim trees, but it was all futile as their whipping branches went right through the light tentacles. One of the chakra constructs shot at the female Uchiha and captured her.

'ARGH!' she screamed as she was pulled into the scroll.

'Yuumei!' Byakuya shouted and pulled out a small chakra pistol. It was nothing fancy like Seishiro's fine-tuned state of the art arms, but it had to do. The chakra pistol slowed down the light tentacles for a few moment, but soon enough the two remaining people were sucked into the scroll as well. Ghost just stood there like that, silent as death, too afraid to move, despite all the training that had been done.

'Yuki-chaaaaaan.' Ghost whipped around and saw the apparition of the little girl skipping at her again.

'Not now, Onee-chan.' Ghost mumbled softly.

'Yuki-chaaaaan!' the little girl exclaimed again and appeared by the scroll.'Pick it up!'

Ghost stared as the girl smiled and then vanished. All was silent and dark again.

**888**

Ryuzen sat cross-legged and stared at their target, a rather tall girl with tanned skin and blond hair. She had pointed ears and small brownish gold horns. Here and there on her skin were elegant, small swirly tattoos that were barely visible. She also had the most vivid golden eyes he had seen in quite a while.

'A member of the Ryu Clan, if I am not mistaken.' Yoko commented as she watched her captain inspect the girl with some interest.

'Didn't they lead a regiment during the Summon wars? The one that sunk the Dairuki Prefecture?'

'Apparently one or two of them survived, because she is their progeny.'

'How old is she? She looks around her mid-twenties.' Ryuzen muttered.

'Actually, she is 15, even if she is too tall to look her age.'

Ryuzen raised his eyebrows in surprise.

'I can wait a few years, I guess.' The captain sighed with mock disappointment.

'You have three girlfriends in the capital, several friends with benefits, a bunch of birds all over the Elemental Continent alone, and you are feeling bad that you can't feel her up? What a pity captain, really.' Kenta rolled his eyes.

'Now, now, Kenta. You know he is a ladies man.' Yoko chuckled.

'And what about you, Sempai? Does a fine cougar such as yourself have a sweetheart?'

Now it was Yoko's turn to raise eyebrows.

'And what would it be to you if I did?'

Ryuzen barked a laugh.

'Honestly, I don't find you to be the type to-'

'Please follow me.'

'Ghost-san? When did you come back?'

'Please follow me, it isn't safe here.'

Ryuzen and Yoko shared a concerned look.

'Is something the matter, Ghost-san?'

The Ghost Trooper did not answer. Instead, using swift and precise movements, Ghost knocked them out. Taka-chan cried a few times but a glance with the Sharingan subdued her.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Here there be Ninja

Seishiro woke up with a start. There was a horrible ringing noise in hear ears, she was covered in cold sweat, her world was spinning and she felt extremely nauseaus. Rationally, she knew she was in a state of shock, but that rational part worked only so far. She felt terrified beyond her wits and there wasn't a muscle in her body that did not tremble. Her survival instinct kicked in and Seishiro tried to sit up. That nauseaus feeling doubled and she barely restrained herself from throwing up on the spot.

Her vision was blurry and peripherally darkened. There were black spots before her eyes and she couldn't for the life of her determine her location. She stood up by sheer force of will but then stumbled right back down on her knees. Again, she stood up, and despite her entire world spinning with vigor, she wobbled forward, towards what seemed to be some sort of column of sort. As soon as she reached it, she finally gave into the urge and threw up. Her stomach finally settled after several very painful dry heaves. She felt no better and now there was throbbing, along with the ringing sounds in her ears. Seishiro closed her eyes and tried to make do with what worked still of her senses. The unpleasant taste of vomit was what dominated her taste buds and there was a burning sensation in her throat. She would have problem talking for the next few days.

Her sense of smell, however, worked perfectly fine. And it was assaulted by a sweet, musky scent. The air was cool and very damp, carrying within itself the tinges of slightly decaying vegetation, stale water, the sweet honey scent of fragnant flowers. It was a foreign sensation. One that she had never had the privilige to experience before. She did not know what to make of it and that frightened her. But in that foreign air there were also the scents of her team mates. She recognized them with ease. Just as this air felt foreign to her, so did their scents feel completely alien to this place, whatever it was.

Her hands gripped the column harder, only to feel surface peaces of it break off. That was strange, Seishiro thought. She pressed her cool, damp with cold sweat forehead to the column. What she felt was almost exactly like...

'Mokuton.' she mumbled. She stared with wonder, her still unfocused eyes, widening with disbelief. This thick, dense column was made of Mokuton? But Daiki was the only one of their group that was capable of using the element! This here did not carry the tell-tale ozone-like scent of human chakra. Seishiro brought her nose to the surface and took in its smell. It was wood. But how could something so tall, so thick be a tree? Seishiro closed her eyes and tried to control her breathing, hoping that would slow down her heart rate, and as a consequence, her obviously too high blood pressure. She stood like that for a while, perfectly still, with closed eyes and her hands firmly placed on the tree. She didn't know how long it took her, but by the time she opened her eyes, she no longer saw black spots. Her vision was less blurry and while her head still felt as if it had been split open and then roughly patched up, the ringing and throbbing in her ears had been tremendously reduced.

She swallowed, her throat ever so irritated by the action. Her mouth felt slightly dry. She needed to drink something, but she also needed to find her team mates. Finally, some half an hour after she had woken up, she dared herself to take in her surroundings. And what she saw left her even more breathless than the tree she was using for support.

She was in a forest. A real, natural forest. Like those she had read about in old fairy tales. Tall, huge musky trees with leafy, green crowns covering up the sky above. A careless, periwinkle sky, covered with happy cotton-like white clouds. There were the occasional buzzings sounds and the songs of birds that had no longer existed for over hundreds of years in her time. Where the sun broke through the crowns of the trees, it left sunlit patches on the ground, scattered in a random pattern, caressing everything they came in contact with a soft warm feeling of delight, and in Seishiro's case, surrealistic wonder.

Not too far away from Seishiro, to her left, south-west, she realized, there was the playful splashing sound of running water. Perhaps a spring or a stream. With careful, slow and deliberate steps, she neared the source of the sound. She needed water, and she needed to bring her team mates to this water source, a small spring, as soon as she could. Seishiro drank greedily, feeling most of the unease in her go away. The water was cool and pristinely clean. It lacked that specific taste that came with the recycled, purified water from the water stations. It was the best water she had ever had. And that strange sense of euphoria that slowly crept up in her gave her the energy and moral boost she needed to track down her team mates, who seemed to be not too far away.

**888**

Setting up camp all by herself was not what Seishiro expected to happen. Then again ending up in some unknown territory covered with long-extinct vegetation was never on her agenda either. Still, she was trained to be able to manage solo missions and survivalism was something she was adept at. She tried to ignore the insecure feeling budding inside of her. While she knew how to make do in a typical environment, like a desert, a desolate tundra-like area and so on, managing in this warm, damp environment was not something they prepared her about in Survival 101. Finding burnable materials seemed to be the hardest. Unlike Mokuton, this wood that surrounded her was wet, damp and unable to do nothing more than produce smoke. With all of her team mates sleeping or just plain unconscious, she had to make do with whatever she could. It was trial and error for the most part, but she had managed to produce a small pyre with the dry, hollow wood she had found on the bank of the stream. At least they would be warm during the cool night.

Securing shelter was slightly easier than securing the fire. All the trees about her and their branches provided for natural cover from the elements and after some experimenting she had made several slightly shabby but insulated enough makeshift shelters. She had found some sort of small, clumped up together vegetation that grew in dark and damp places. It looked like a mat and her instincts had told her it was perfect for insulating the branch-made shelters from wind an possible rain.

Food was probably ridiculously easy to acquire. Even without Taka-chan and with her condition as poor as it was, she had still managed to procure a nice, solid amount of fish from the upper parts of the stream. By the time it got slightly dark outside, she already had a batch of five cooked and several more were still in the process of being smoked.

Out of all of her team mates, it was Ryuzen who had stirred first. The startled spike of his chakra was what alerted her to his awakening. Her captain seemed even more confused as to their current predicament than she was at first. She helped him stand up and then held up shoulder-lenght locks from his face as he vomited well into a dry heaving state, just like she had.

'Here. The water is good.' she rasped out and handed him a canteen with water from the stream. He took it without another word and slowly gulped down the rejuvenating liquid. He sighed tiredly as he pulled away the throat of the canteen from his lips.

'Where are we?' he asked, voice as raspy as hers. They would have to do something about that as soon as Yoko was well and awake.

'Location is indisclosed.' Seishiro stated and remained silent and her captain tried to assimilate the information.

His ringed eyes glanced slowly about him, curiousity seeping through his being. He was never one to trully hide his emotions. It was probably why he had managed to get the position he was in for so long. He was a very laid back person, but also one capable of taking tough decisions in strenious situations.

'If it weren't for my aching temples, I'd say we died and went to soldier heaven.' A small smile appeared on his lips, despite his groggy state. 'But as it is, we are all alive, in an unidentified territory, covered with long-extinct vegetation and last but not least, Ghost-san is responsible for this, even if partly so.'

'Captain?'

'We need to secure the Ghost trooper. The last thing I remember is him saying we are not safe. Then he knocked us out when we didn't cooperate with him. His mission report stated that his presence was required in order to keep our target safe. Now, however, his actions dictate that he is no longer a stable figure in this mission and we need to act accordinly. Let's tie him up.'

Ryuzen winced slightly as he stood up and, along with Seishiro, they walked over to where Ghost was placed. The first thing he did was take into account Ghost's status.

'Unconscious with a tremendous case of chakra exhaustion. For the rest, we need Yoko.' Ryuzen pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows at the same time. It was an expression he used when there was nothing else he could do at the moment.

Seishiro crouched and tenderly removed the Ghost Trooper's mask. It seemed to be attached to the long, heavy black dread locks. The dread locks turned out to be a wig of some sorts.

'A girl? I thought Ghost-san was a boy.' Seishiro had a slight note of surprise in her voice. 'My nose has never been wrong before, unless her clothing is infused with male pheromones on purpose, in order to further keep one's identity a secret... but ... why?'

'The Ghost Trooper Program. Why else? Some really sick and inhuman stuff go on there. And I am a Black Corps Uchiha. Coming from me...hm.' Ryuzen did not finish his thought. It was a rare occasion in which he ever spoke of his time growing up in the Black Corps Uchiha Compound. It was called that for a reason. The Black Corps contained some of the most powerful members of the Uchiha and thus they produced some of the most powerful soldiers. Unlike most of the Rinnegan bearers, as rare as they were, Ryuzen was one of the very few who managed to directly unlock it. Such a feat was only capable of those with both Uchiha and Uzumaki genes. His case being such, he had never been privy to the strict training program that was involved with the Sharingan users. Unlike them, however, he had to go straight to the extremely draining and taxing training with the Rinnegan. Seishiro did not know details, but his looks spoke enough. He looked 10 to 15 years older than he was simply from the constant strain upon his chakra system. To compensate he had to eat a lot, a heavy on calories food. That made him a bit of a liability on long term missions. Or so his personal report had stated.

Having spent a bit more that 4 years under his command, Seishiro was perfectly aware of his limits and she was even more painfully aware how often he went pass them and then shrugged it off as if it was nothing concerning. He seemed to be one of those types of people who did not give their own lives a great value. It was actually a very typical view of life for a soldier. And yet, in his free time, he surrounded himself with simple, hedonistic, mortal pleasures. He was a strange one, but if it worked there was no reason to change it. As it were, he was her closest comrad.

'She doesn't look like a Black Corps though.' Ryuzen murmured thoughtfully. 'How old is she? 15? 16 maybe? I would've remembered her. You always remember the tough ones.'

'You reckon she is a White Corps, then?' there was a note of surprise in Seishiro's voice.

'She has Sharingan so that must be the case. We should ask Yuumei about it, though she is too young and I doubt she'd know anything about it.'

'Yeah. The whites are a lot bigger than the blacks.' Seishiro agreed.

If there was one substantial difference between the White Corps and Black Corps Uchiha, it was their size. The White Corps Uchiha specialized in intelligence gathering and some other things, such as Yuumei's occupation as a pilot. Black Corps Uchiha were more about direct combat and as such it was their duty to be the best of the best. They were considered to be the Elite Corps among all other Corps, such as Hyuuga's three branches: Main House, Eagle Branch and Lightning Branch; the Mokuton Guild, consisting of farmers, scientists and the occasional fighters and many other small ones that had survived the harsh reality as time passed by in centuries.

Ryuzen sighed and rubbed his eyes with one hand.

'Nowadays I am surprised that there are still things out there that are still capable of surprising me.' he sounded tired. He was probably more so than his looks let on. Seishiro herself felt exhausted.

'I'll handle the Ghost. You go get some rest before I decide it's a good idea to wake up Yoko.' Seishiro said seriously, but Ryuzen chuckled softly at her threat.

The captain sat near the fire and then propped his head on one of his hands. It was not the most comfortable position to doze in, but he did not feel secure enough lying down on the soft earth. It was slightly unnerving for him.

With Ryuzen having his back turned to her, Seishiro proceeded to remove the Ghost Trooper's cloak and then carefully her outer, armored garments. She did not want to risk the girl managing to use any sort of hidden pockets. By the time she was done tying her with god knows how many knots, there were a variety of items strewn on top of the disgarded armored clothing. Small steel throwing weapons, tools for breaking locks and other such devices, a small pistol, a short steel sword designed for close combat, which resembled a dagger somewhat. She had also a long one-handed steel sword of simple but obviously effective design. Those did not seem to be the Ghost Trooper's main weapons though. Seishiro would bet her left tit that the slightly worn, but in perfect condition otherwise, twin steel daggers were her main weapons. They were slightly curved with a design that suggested they were chakra conductive. A gentle touch upon the surface of one of the daggers left a miniscule twinge upon the tips of her fingers. Lightning. The Electrical Element was the main focus of these weapons which lead the Eagle Branch Hyuuga to believe that she was actually a ninjutsu specialist.

A small bout of excitement fromed within Seishiro. This was the first time she had the privilege of handling Akatsuki no Dakusaido grade weapons. She felt slightly jealous that those daggers were better quality than her own arms. But only the best goes for Madara-sama's favourites, she mused. The vice captain threw aside those thoughts and then carefully packaged all the items she had gotten off of the girl. Speaking of the Ghost, she was left clad only in her small dark shorts and the tight sleeveless black top she was wearing beneath all that armor.

**888**

Satsuki woke up to the sounds of the soft cries of a bird. Her golden eyes opened to discover a strange low ceiling. Her nose was assaulted by strange smells, one of them being cooked fish. She felt groggy and stiff. Unlike the rest, however, she was the only one to wake up without the extreme feeling of nausea. She also happened to be the last to wake up.

Taka-chan gave her distinctive soft cries again. Satsuki turned to look at the bird which seemed to be near her head. The Peregrine Falcon was merely nesting next to her, watching her calmly. The girl stirred again and looked about her.

'Maa, Ryuzen, the girl's awake.' someone near her said.

A head poked from one side of the small improvised shelter. It was the man with ringed eyes.

'Ohayo, Satsuki-chan! Did you have a pleasant sleep? You sure look better than the lot of us combined, I'll give you that.' the man, Ryuzen, smiled warmly at her. 'I suggest you come out and get something to eat. We will be setting out soon.'

Satsuki nodded silently, her startled eyes betraying her utter confusion. Was she not supposed to be in the capital, being experimented on or something? Was that not what she had agreed to in order to save the small village that had raised her for as long as she could remember? The girl pulled herself out of the small shelter and observed her surroundings. They were in some sort of makeshift camp. The soldiers of the team that had come to escort her to the capital were all busy preparing. But for what, she had no idea. There wasn't sight or sound of the helicopter and to her great surprise and nerious delight, she was surrounded by a lush forest. Just like those from the fairy tales of old, she thought with excitement. Despite her nervousness, a small happy smile crept up on her face, as she looked up at the sky and marveled the lush crowns of the tall trees, way up high. A small breeze rustled the leaves, creating a soothing whisper of a sound. Birds were chirping and singing, water was splashing nearby. If this is where she was supposed to live, then she had no qualms about it.

'Satsuki-chan, I'm talking to you!' Ryuzen grinned playfully at the blonde girl. Her wide open with wonder golden eyes snapped back to him, slightly startled but no less curious.'As much as I want to leave you to marvel the forest, we have to get going.' He handed her a small package.' This is for you. Try not to lose anything, Satsuki-chan. We don't have much with us to begin with and we don't know where we are exactly.'

'Did we crash?'

'Iie, Satsuki-chan. To be honest, I don't know how we got here or where we are exactly. But, do you see that man over there? With the white eyes, Satsuki-chan. That's Byakuya, our pilot. If his eyes pick something up, I'll make sure to tell you right away.' Ryuzen smiled charmingly at her, which made her cheeks flush slightly with an uncomfortable feeling.' If that is okay with you, Satsuki-chan.'

'Hai, it's ...it's perfectly fine.' the girl stated, not exactly sure why he was paying such attention to her anyways.

'I'm glad to hear that, Satsuki-chan.' Ryuzen flashed her another smile and Satsuki got the distinct feeling he enjoyed saying her name. That did not make her feel any less uncomfortable by his too friendly attitude. With that the man went on ahead, effortlessly picking up what seemed to be an unconscious girl with pale skin and silky, long black hair.

'You stay with me, girl.' a disgruntled voice beside her startled her. She whipped her head to the side to see a tall woman with brown spiky hair and sharp blue eyes. She seemed to be the type that no one would ever want to cross on purpose and that slight scowl on her face and the faint bags underneath her eyes spoke of exhaustion. Still her movements were precise and fluid, one hand handling her own luggage while the other was placed on one of the pistols on her hips. Satsuki came to the clonclusion the woman was tired and weary and that she drew comfort from the touch of her weapon. The blonde girl followed her without so much as a sound comming from her.

As they left their camping spot, there was nary a sign anyone had ever been there for a prolonged period of time. Probably the only clue to ever mark their passage were the missing pieces of bark upon one of the trees- the place where Seishiro had gripped the trunk the previous day.

At some point Satsuki noticed she was travelling in the middle with the sharpshooter woman. Behind her were the dark-skinned woman, which introduced herself as Yoko and the bespectacled man who seemed to be annoyed that he couldn't reach any signal from wherever they were. Yuumei was last, with Taka, the Peregrine Falcon, resting comfortably on the woman's shoulder. To the front was the tall, broad shoouldered man named Ryuzen and with him were the Hyuuga Byakuya and the man who had introduced himself as Daiki. He was also the one who had alerted Ryuzen to her awakening. Every now and then he did the strangest thing: he picked up small seeds from the ground or inspected leaves and small plants. Occasionally the woman beside her, Seishiro was her name, would warn him to pick up his pace.

That first day of trekking had gone by slowly. They were all unsure how to handle the soft soil beneath their feet, the vegetation also slowed them down, not to mention the Hyuuga's difficulty with discerning shapes from one another among the trees. Everything seemed to burst with life and chakra before his all-seeing eyes and he felt his sensitive vision being overwhelmed. The end of the day was marked with the awakening of the tied up person, who she learned was actually the masked man that had accompanied the team. Since she was an Uchiha, her eyes had been covered with a piece of cloth. Apart from saying politely thank you for the food and water and the trully apathetic behavior, she was not much of a hustle.

The atmosphere at their current camp spot was calm and somewhat content. But there was also the lingering disquiet feeling caused by the lack of civilization about them. Even she, a simple civilian, couldn't believe the forest would be so huge. It seemed almost endless and Satsuki was starting to wonder when they would meet another human being. Beside her, Seishiro was silently helping her prepare supper for the team.

**888**

'How are you feeling, Byakuya?' Ryuzen sat down next to the Hyuuga by the campfire. Byakuya was tenderly howding his head with his palms, slowly rubbing his temples and around his eyes in general.

'My head still hurts. I will try tomorrow again, when the pounding headache and the pain in the eyes subdue.'

'You could always ask Yoko-sempai for some medicine or to heal you.'

'I did. But she said that my corneal flash burn will heal on its own.'

Ryuzen chuckled.

'You are probably the first Hyuuga recorded in history with corneal flash burn.'

'Laugh it up, Yuumei got a kick out of it too, you know.' Byakuya grumbled.

Ryuzen shook his head. Eye problems caused by Doujutsu was a notoriously painful subject for the Uchiha. On the other hand, the Hyuuga's Byakugan was notoriously resilient to any form of damage to the eyes caused by using the doujutsu itself. As funny as it was for an Uchiha to watch a Hyuuga writhing in pain with a typically Uchiha problem, the fact remained that Byakuya's eyes were too sensitive for the chakra emmitions of this place, whatever it was. He had described it as a world of bright vibrant lights, fluctuating and intertwining. Compared to what he was used to before, it was like staring at a super nova after watching for a dull spark in pitchblack space.

'I didn't come here to laugh at you, even though, as an Uchiha, i find it quite hilarious.' Ryuzen finally spoke up.' I came to tell you not to use your Byakugan. If what Yoko says is correct, that means you can't allow yourself to push your eyes to the limit like that. You might end up blind, which is far more worse than not using your doujutsu.'

'Sempai told me something of the same lines. But I am quite unnerved.' Byakuya's voice was not barely a whisper.'It is like we are in an entirely different world. A living, thriving world.'

'Hm. I've thought about it as well. There are not forests where we come from and this here...it is an endless see of lush trees. Something like this should've been made known to people of our rank if it was top secret. And these...trees. They're natural. You can feel it, too, can't you? You don't need the Byakugan to just feel how alive the trees are. Some of them are ancient.' There was a note of awed reverence in his voice. 'Some of these trees are hundreds of years old. Just try to imagine that!'

'Aa.' Byakuya agreed whole-heartedly with his Taichou. In fact, he didn't need to imagine anything. He could see it for miles in all directions. A Cacophony of colors and lights and forms. And the most powerful source of them all was so deep within the earth that he only saw a glimpse of its incredible power. A living, scalding hot core, rotating and twisting, emmiting what he defined as the life-giving source of chakra that fed his surroundings. It was what had given him the corneal flash burn in the first place. The Heart of this World. He had tried to look further down to it, to examine this amazing light phenomenon. Maybe he had tried to hard. But even if it hurt now, he knew it had been worth it. What he had seen, again only a slight, miniscule portion of what he perceived as the core, gave him a sense of security, of hope. Perhaps in time, he would attempt again to glimpse at this godly underworld force. For now, he would heal and contemplate upon what he had learned.

**888**

Ghost awoke to find herself tied up like a petty criminal and stripped of her Akatsuki no Dakusaido Battle Regalia. There was a blindfold preventing her from seeing and, consequently, using her Sharingan. It was easy for her to guess why it was so. She had used _that_ scroll. And now they were God knows where. Even though she could not see, she had known the moment she had woken up that she was in an entirely foreign land. The sounds, the smells, the very chakra in the area was foreign to her senses. In fact, she felt as if she was assaulted through her senses by a particularly strong Genjutsu. But years of training had taught her to throw off such nuinsances and after several attempts to throw off the Genjutsu via meditation, she realized that her surroundings were quite real.

'Awake, are you?' That was Ryuzen's voice. It was just as peaceful and pleasant as she remembered it.'Your actions have thrown us into quite the adventure, Ghost-san. I'm afraid we had to take some measures, especially given the circumstances. I hope you are feeling cooperative right now, because I really don't want to use harsher method against you. You see, I don't want Satsuki-chan to think that we are all some kind of monsters. After all, I will just be following the protocol. So, what do you say, Ghost-san. Will you help me out?'

Friendly and charming. He had his way with women, something Ghost had noted the moment she had met the Captain of the Special Task Force Military Squad Number 36 Alfa 21.

Ghost remained silent. There was nothing to be said.

'Not feeling like talking, Ghost-san? I'll give you a few days out of the kindness of my heart. It's not standard protocol but there is nothing standard about our predicament, now is there?' Ghost could practically hear the man's charming smile as he stood up and left her all alone.

The air gradually got colder and she deduced that night time was comming. The sounds of her surroundings were also subject to gradual change and she made a guess that whatever creatures lived on this location (for these sounds could only be caused by living creatures) were shifting from the daytime ones to the night ones. As night fell a chirping sound began to play from all directions. She deduced that sound to belong to some type of nocturnal animal, perhaps some sort of insect?

Ghost slightly liften her head. Someone was sight next to her. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and gooseflesh appearing on her arms and legs. There was a silent, whisper-like giggle right next to her ear. Ghost took in a sharp breath, trying to remain as passive as she could. She could feel an icy breath upon her right cheek as tiny, child fingers tugged ever so lightly upon her blindfold. The tugs were not strong enough to pull the blindfold off, but the action itself forced the blood out of her face. Ghost's heart was beating rapidly and despite the thumping in hear ears she could feel that ghost child's breath mere centimeters away from her skin. Ghost couldn't surpress the powerful shiver that trembled through her form.

After what seemed to be an eternity, she heard footsteps approach her and, almost like a miracle, the presence of the ghost child disappeared once more. Ghost immediately slowed her breathing and now it was slow and shallow, compared to a moment ago when she was near hyperventilation. The footsteps wer loud and landed hard upon the soft ground. It was the target. The girl named Satsuki.

'Ano, Ghost-san? I brought you something to eat.' She said, slight uncertanty and discomfort in her voice. It was obvious someone, probably Hyuuga Seishiro, had warned the girl that she was exceptionally dangerous. Despite her predicament she actually approved of that. It was a sound advice to give to someone untrained as the Ryu girl. 'I'm not allowed to untie you, so I have to feed you if that is ok?'

'Hn.'

'Um... Ok. It's good food, so you know. Seishiro-san and myself made stew with some of the smoked fish she had caught yesterday. It's a bit plain but we don't exactly have any spices around us and Yoko told me not to put anything in it from around this forest.'

'We are in a forest?' There was a very slight undercurrent of interest in the otherwise deadpan calm voice.

'Hai, Ghost-san.'

As the girl fed her slowly through a nice big bowl of fish soup, Ghost contemplated upon the new information. It sounded almost surreal but it fit with what she was sensing about her. There was literally so much life going on around her that her sense of hearing was overwhelmed at times.

'Ano, Ghost-san. You look cold.' Satsuki said after just standing uncomfortably there.'Here.'

She awkwardly threw the blanket from her own form upon Ghost. It was warm, warmer that typically human, but it was nice.

'Thank you.' Ghost said with her soft voice and as Satsuki left, she subtly nuzzled herself into the warmth of the blanket. It had been the same one she had covered the girl with when she had placed her in that cave.

That night Ghost slept very lightly, feeling particularly on edge because of the presence that kept on edging and disappearing upon her senses every now and then. The early morrow came with a thick fog that smelled of sea and swamp. They were near a large body of water. Ghost guessed it was quite probable for the team to head towards the source of the fog in hopes of finding some form of civilization. After all, large bodies of water were exceptionally rare. Especially large bodies of fresh water. Even though there was the tell-tale scent of sea in the air, something had to keep this large forest bustling with life, and Ghost was certain it was in the direction from where the fog rolled in.

_**A/N: **_I hope you people found this chapter as good as the previous one. Anyways, here are some facts that some of you might find interesting:

Madara-sama is actually Tobi. He is the leader of the world (future) from which the characters come from.

Byakuya's eyes are a lot more sensitive that contemporary Naruto Hyuuga's simply because of evolutionary selection. The Hyuuga have three branches for a reason and the Lightning Branch has actually derived from Hanabi.

The Ryu clan is cannon for those of you who don't know. They were introduced by the game Naruto Shippuuden: Dragon Blade Chronicles.

There is a very good reason the Uchiha are separated in two Corps. Try and guess.

Cookies for the person who guesses the location.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_Wub Dub...Wub Dub...Wub Dub..._

There were gun shots. Lots of gun shots and shouting. For some reason it was realy hard to concentrate. Her vision swam and darkness was slowly creeping up on her before she could even fully awaken herself.

_Wub Dub... Wub Dub... Wub Dub..._

There was a shout and a burst of Chakra. The air filled with the sizzling scent of ozone and the resounding crack of a Lightning Jutsu hitting one of Ryuuzen's barriers echoed through the forest. A girlish scream, a yelp and the distinct crunching sound of broken bones.

_Wub Dub...Wub Dub...Wub Dub..._

Everything sounded so muffled and it was so hard to concentrate. Someone cried out to her. It was Satsuki, the Ryu girl. Her senses slipped into complete darkness.

_Wub Dub...Wub Dub...Wub Dub..._

_'At ease.' he said softly, idly playing with the glass of whiskey in his hands. The mask was set on the side of his face in an almost casual, slightly tilted way. The soft blush on his otherwise pale face revealed that this had been far from his first glass of alcohol that night. The usually well groomed black hair was in disarray and his eyes for once were just pure black, half-lidded with the alure of spirits and what seemed to be sad contemplation._

_Madara looked at her and then waved at her to take a seat._

_'Help yourself with some whiskey. It's not nice to drink alone.' he gave her a half hearted smile._

_The Ghost Trooper said nothing but accepted the glass that would remain untouched. This was just going to be another Guard Duty, and whatever happened during those hours would come and go. This was, however, the first time she had ever seen her leader in such a mood. Tired, angry, fustrated and on occasion furious with how some things were going on with politics – that was the norm. She paid no heed to his behavior now. He looked unusally calm and passive but she suspected that to be the effect of the spirits he had consumed. Then again there was the report he was looking over. _

_They were like that for a while, with him occasionally pouring himself some more Whiskey. Finally, after what seemed forever, Madara stood up from his chair and completely removed the mask from his head, ruffling his hair and then stretching slightly to remove the stiffness of having to sit behind that desk and doing paperwork for so long. Slowly he walked over to the panoramic view across the room. It was night time and the city was glowing like a jewel with night lights and vehicles._

_'Tell me, little Ghost. Have you ever seen a forest? With trees so big and ancient that their sheer size force you into a state of humbled awe. Have you ever imagined what it would be like to be in the middle of no where with no civilization for miles around? Only yourself and the Wilds as your company. To wake up early in the morning and hear the song birds' choir, the charming rustling of foilage, dancing with the morning breeze...heh. There is no way of you to know what I''m talking about, now is there?'_

_He smiled fondly and then looked at her. She did not say anything and he knew she wouldn't say anything. _

_'Of all the things that I have done in my long life, the only thing I wish to undo is what I consider to be my greatest sin. Mankind's greatest sin. But don't mind me, little Ghost. Perhaps the time would soon come when our very world would finally decide to abandon us to damnation.' Madara drank the contents of his glass in one go and then leaned himself against the huge panoramic window, once again completely ignoring her presence. Ghost sat there on that chair and waited patiently for her shift to be over. There was a bittersweet air about her leader tonight. She looked back at the document that had occupied his interest for the last three hours._

_A culling._

_She looked back at her leader. There was a look of deep, mournful longing in his eyes. His posture was slightly hunched, arms crossed before his chest, one had still barely holding the empty whiskey glass. He was grieving. Alone with no one to comfort him. He who was on top of the world and had it in his hand. His decisions were not the easiest ones to make and even though she knew it was a breach of protocol, she still stood up and poured the man whiskey in his empty glass. For a moment he had given her a slightly startled, confused owlish look. Perhaps he had forgotten her presence there. For that moment she thought he was going to reprimand her but he simply smiled and raised his glass at her and inclined his head, offering his thanks. She silently went back to the seat he had offered her earlier. There was a pale child with black hair and pale blue eyes sitting on the desk. Ghost ignored it._

_'Yuki-chaaaan.'_

Ghost opened her eyes. She felt oddly refreshed, despite the stiffness she felt in her waist. That was a clear sign of recently being the subject of a healing technique. She took her time to gaze at the crown of the trees, the vivid green colors mingling with the dark blue of the twilight sky of the early evening. It was a peaceful pass time.

'Eh! Ghost-san! You're finally awake!' came the cheerful exclamation of the Ryu Girl.'I was really worried, you see! Yoko said you were poisoned with some sort of needle and we were attacked and you just-'

The pale girl looked over to see Satsuki sitting on her knees next to her, golden eyes sparkling with emotion. She was blabbering on excitedly, retelling in a rather irregular manner how they were ambushed by several bandits or something. She took her time describing the various fighting techniques she had happened to witness making exagerated gestures with her hands. It was obvious she had never seen anything of the like and her child-like excitement felt...endearing to Ghost.

'Ne, Satsuki-chan, don't pester our Ghost-chan now.' that was Ryuzen. The man was never far away from the Ryu girl. Given his reputation of a Casanova, it wasn't that big of a surprise. 'Yoko wants you to help her.'

'H-hai, Ryuzen-san.' Satsuki nodded and with a wave and a smile, left Ghost with the captain.

Ryuzen followed the blonde girl with a thoughtful gaze and that perpetual whimsical half-smirk on his face. His ringed eyes then focused on her. Despite his easy going demeanor, Ghost knew and felt the power radiating from him. Her face was blank, but there was the slightest twinge of apprehension. It was only natural. Despite her position as a Ghost Trooper, the man before her was probably one of the most powerful men under her Liege's command. He wanted something from her and it was only common sense for this fact to make the hairs on the back of her neck to stand.

'Well, Ghost-san. You are quite lucky. You nearly died due to this little ambush. Primitive but effective- a poisoned needle.'

'What happened?' she asked almost on autopilot.

'We were attacked by a small group of rogue individuals. They weren't that hard to deal with, but the way they fought us lead me to believe that your time to make a decision is over. So what say you? Tell us what the scroll did or remain our prisoner?'

Ghost blinked slowly, face completely passive. In all honesty she had no idea what the scroll did. She only knew she had to use it.

'I have no idea what the scroll did.'

Ryuzen sighed.

'And why use it then?'

'I cannot answer that.'

'You are really making this difficult, aren't you, Ghost-san?'

'I am not authorized to answer.'

'Heh. I highly doubt that for some reason but we can do things your way.'

Ryuzen shook his head with his smirk widening slightly. He then reached into a pocket and pulled out what seemed to be some sort of strange primitive knife.

'Our ambushers were armed with these. Iron. Can you believe it? Byakuya checked them over three times. While flimsy and obviously of poor quality, I thought they'd be of some use.' Ryuzen then put the blade back into his pocket and reached out with a hand towards the knots of the ropes binding her.

When the ropes fell, she didn't do anything. She knew what would follow. Binding seals. She wouldn't be able to leave Ryuzen's presence until he deemed her safe to do so.

'I'm giving you 15 meters radius for now. After this incident I believe it's better to have you slightly more mobile. And someone's got to keep an eye out for Satsuki-chan.'Ryuzen pointed towards something and Ghost turned to look at what he was gesturing. There was the corpse of one of the ambushers. Not too far away was a shade glaring at the blonde girl. The man's death had not been pleasant.

'He tried to grab Satsuki-chan and she panicked. She broke his arm and that gave Yuumei enough time to trap him into an Illusion and then break his neck. The girl's got talent. Too bad we can't complete our mission, isn't it, Ghost-san?'

The shade's left arm looked unnaturally twisted in an odd place and the head was a little ...queer. Ghost moved her gaze before it realized she was looking at it. It was one less head ache to deal with, really.

'We didn't leave any survivors. They just charged at us and Seishiro got most of them save for the man who attacked Satsuki-chan and what appeared to be their leader.'

'The girl mentioned something about that. The man who charged at you with a lightning technique.'

'Hm, broke his heart. At least we found a map on one of them.' Ryuzen looked at where Kenta, Seishiro, Yuumei and Byakuya were. Ghost followed his gaze. They were looking at what seemed to be a piece of paper portraying the Elemental continent.

**888**

'It's an old map.'

'If it's old, then does it look like it was made seven months ago?'

'It still portrays the Dairuki Prefecture.' Kenta pointed towards an area off the coast of the main land, covered with multiple small and large islands. 'And look at the cities. None of them match our current geography.'

Kenta was in a mood fouler than usual. Almost none of the gadgets he had on himself worked. He had no idea where they were, there was radio silence, the GPS wasn't working. He sighed exasperatedly. His equipment was in perfect working order. Therefore there just wasn't any signal. It was a chilling discovery. But not as chilling as that first night when he had looked up at the stars. They were different. Where the hell had that damned Ghost Trooper taken them? A small voice in the back of his mind also added with a whisper 'When?'

'We still arent aware of our location. I say we send out Taka-chan to familiarize herself with the area and possibly spot any sort of civilization.'

'I am not sure if Taka is up for the challenge yet, Byakuya. She's been disoriented ever since we arrived and it's worrying me.' Seishiro stated, stealing a glance at the bird resting on a branch above them. The Peregrine Falcon seemed to be dozing.

'We have to send her out whether she is ready or not. We are in the dark and I cannot use my Byakugan at my usual level of expertize.'

**888**

It was barely after sun rise. It was still slightly dark to the west and the group had been up and mobile for a while now. They had found a small patch of land, clear of trees and Seishiro had deemed it good enough a spot to release Taka. The Peregrine Falcon spread its wings and flapped them a few times. With some persuasion from both Byakuya and Seishiro, the bird took off into the sky.

Seishiro's piercing blue eyes followed Taka chan and then she slowly exhaled, preparing to cast the technique. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her slow, even breathing pattern. Slowly, the world around her began to fade. First the sounds and then the sensations of wind upon her skin, the still chilly air of the early morning, the glaring rays of the sun...

The transition was seemless as always. When she opened her eyes again, she could see the world from a different vantage point. From Taka's eyes. She spread her wings and shot forward , quickly gaining height. At first she could only see a sea of trees and some mountaints in the far off distance. But as she gained more height she finally saw what she was looking for- the coast.

Back on the ground Satsuki was curiously staring at Seishiro, who was unnaturally still, he eyes wide open and flickering all over, blinking rapidly. It was a slightly unnerving sight to watch those usually piercing eyes so unfocused and wide.

She was like that for half an hour before finally closing her eyes and seemingly shaking off the strange stupor of a trance.

'I found a small village not too far away, to the southwest. It's on a small island off the coast but its connected via a bridge.'

'Well, let's go then!' Ryuzen stated cheerfully and their group headed in the appointed direction.

**888**

Satsuki discovered a very interesting fact. Ryuzen, along with every single member of his squad, Ghost-san included, were unable to do the simplest of thing- ask for directions. She still wondered how she got the honor of doing so, but Ryuzen's friendly smirk was partially responsible.

So, the moment they arrived in this village, she made way to the first person she had on her sights. A good looking woman with long dark hair, pale skin. There was a boy in her early teens holding her basket with bought groceries.

'Um, excuse me?' she asked the woman, who turned to look at her. 'Me and my friends are travelling and we kind of, um, got lost. I was wondering if you could show us where we are?' She held out the map she was holding in her hands and the woman was all too happy to oblige.

When she had gotten back to her group Ryuzen was all to eager to complement her on a job well done. Despite her bidding and good natured self, she was startirting to feel uncomfortable by his constant over-friendliness. After three or so minutes of his pestering, Ghost finally came to the rescue and pulled the girl aside. When her back was turned to him, Seishiro promptly hit him in the back of his head, quietly scolding him for his pig-like behavior.

'What is it, Ghost-san?' Satsuki asked the pale girl.

'Here.' she handed her what seemed to be a long piece of cloth. She had nicked it when no one was looking. It was a plain cloth, a slightly faded brown in color.

'Ano, what's this for?'

'Wrap this around your head and hide your horns. People were looking at you and we don't want attention on us.'

Satsuki blinked. That made sense, even though she never really thought about hiding the small protuberances. No one ever paid no heed to them back in her home.

'Um, thank you, Ghost-san.' She gingerly took the cloth and wrapped it around her head, like a band.

It did its job, hiding her horns, but it also held her curly golden hair back, save for a single lock that fell to the side of her face.

**888**

_'Uchiha Ryuzen, you may enter.' said the secretary._

_It was about time, he grumbled mentally, as he nodded and smiled at the pretty thing that was his Liege's secretary. He stood up from his spot and followed her into the huge luxurious office._

_'You called for me, Madara-sama.' he bowed respectfully to the masked man who was currently tending to some paper work._

_At first he did not look up, opting to finish with the document he was holding. Ryuzen waited patiently to be acknowledged. Madara took a pen and wrote down something on a piece of paper and then placed it on the page and closed the file. He looked up at Ryuzen's stoic and silent form, Sharingan glowing through the eye holes of the mask. The mask itself was a pale intricate thing, coated in gold, black and red with some sort of minimalistic flame design._

_Madara stood up from behind his desk and walked over to him. In terms of size, his liege was almost dwarfed. He was only a head an a half taller, but his physique was that of a muscular and broad shouldered male._

_'You've grown since the last time I saw you.'_

_'I have, sir.'_

_'No trouble with the ladies, I hope?'_

_'None at all, sir.' Ryuzen could help but split his face with a self-satisfied grin. Girls hadn't been a problem since he was thirteen. Far from it even._

_'Good, good. I don't want genes like yours to go to waste, after all. But I haven't called you here for idle chats, no matter how much I enjoy them. Come, take a seat with me.' Madara gestured towards the sofa and the two armchairs with an adjacent cofee table. Ryuzen sat on one of the arm chairs while his liege almost gingerly opened a cabinet and hummed quietly a random tune while picking out a bottle with suitable spirits for the occasion. 'I hope you don't mind some straight malt whiskey. I always like company when having a drink.'_

_'Sounds fine, sir.' Ryuzen accepted a glass of freshly poured spirits and sipped carefuly, enjoying the warm, burning sensation down his throat. It was high quality alcohol._

_'I have this mission for your team.'Madara started. He had yet to sit down as he went back to his desk and after a bit of shuffling pulled out a file which he handed to the Rinnegan bearer. As Ryuzen read through the file, his liege turned his back to him and downed the glass of whiskey in one go, after which he adjusted his mask again.'Usually I wouldn't hand over something so easy to you, but its a short one and since you're all going on a vacation soon, I thought of handing it to you.'_

_'Project Phoenix Dawn, sir?' Ryuzen looked at his liege after comming across this term for the third time._

_'As you know, we Uchiha used to be a promiment fire wielding clan. Nowadays, however, even if there is a single Fire user in our two branches, they'd never produce a fire wielding child.'_

_'Jiroha-chan.' Ryuzen mumbled. She had been the only Uchiha born in his generation with Primary Fire Element. She had been married early on to a powerful member of the Black Uchiha with Secondary Fire Element. Out of her 5 children only three showed some ability with Fire techniques, due to having Secondary Fire Element, while the rest were water types._

_'Ah yes. I remember her. Such a beautiful and talented girl of the White Uchiha. It is sad that she never managed to pass on her ability to her progeny.'_

_Madara made himself comfortable on the sofa and poured himself another glass of whiskey._

_'Sometimes I wonder if we'd ever be able to return the will of fire into us Uchiha. But you were a success. You give me hope that is possible to do so. I've made a list of suitable individuals bearing Primary Fire Element. It wasn't easy but I've narrowed down the search to those who have a history of inheriting Fire. I've already sent several squads to pick up some of the targets.'_

_'I see, sir.'_

_'I've left the most special one to your team.' Madara pointed towards the picture of a girl._

_Ryuzen raised a brow. She was certainly a looker. And had two small horns on her head._

_'She's a Ryu. Genetics is such an interesting thing. Her family tree is truly unique, seeing as she is a Fire Wind type and with an active blood line. The first in ten generations with an active blood line.' Ryuzen could practically hear the excited expression of his leader. ' Who knows what kind of things we can benefit from if we introduce her into the Uchiha clan.'_

_A Fire Wind type? Wind and Fire alone were so rare it was a wonder she was carrying both. Furthermore they were the type of elements that worked ridiculously well together. He looked at her picture again. She had the most amazing golden eyes._

_'Pretty isn't she? She's also of a very biddable nature or so I've been told. Who knows, she could be yours with the right circumstances.'_

_Ryuzen glanced up at Madara who was watching him with that gaze of his. His leader was quite the manipulative bastard in the best possible sense. He was charismatic and powerful leader. He knew a proposition where he saw one._

**888**

'Wake up, Ryuzen.' Seishiro shoved him not so lightly with the tip of her boot.

One Rinnegan eye slowly peeled open and sleepily looked at his vice captain, whose hair was still disshevelled. She seemed to be in a bad mood, but he wasn't surprised. Ever since the attack she'd been like that. Tense and almost paranoid. Even Kenta had made sure to keep his complains to himself and Daiki had decided to switch out with her to keep an eye on Satsuki. For some reason the girl had taken a liking to the Ghost Trooper and more often than not was next to her when they were on the move. He couldn't blame her. Without her Battle Regalia she looked quite unintimidating and even somewhat plain.

Well...

Not plain. She was quite pretty. Of light build with a very pale complexion and pale blue eyes. Her looks were so deceptive that even he would've had trouble discerning if she had any training or not. And that unnerving deathly calm exterior of hers. She was definately an odd one. Even now she was helping Satsuki pack her things, while Yoko was sitting not too far away cataloguing yet another weed she had found.

Ryuzen cracked his neck and then proceeded stretching and preparing for a quick morning workout. Today they would reach the capital of Fire Country and from there they would figure out what to do. After all even if there were only two people left in the world somebody would always want somebody else dead and even then there were odd jobs like escorts and retrievals. He doubted they'd be idle for long.

The Captain took a good look at his team. They had taken the news quite ...easily to his surprise. It wasn't everyday that you learn you've went 1000 years into the past. Maybe the thought hasnt really sunk in yet. Or maybe this world was so much different from its older counterpart that it felt as if they were in a different realm all together.

_**A/N: Aaaaand chapter three is done! I hope you like it. The action will start soon but first we need the propper settings. There was barely any mention of Daiki and Yoko but meh, can't please them all. Chapter four would be around soon. Please read and review!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: This chapter is popping up faster than expected. I wanted to do some things differently and possibly a bit slower, but I was reminded that the objective from the very start was to have a fast-pacing story with a lot of supernatural and pseudo-scientific (sorta) moments, as well as at least one action scene per chapter. Also, one of my reviewers pointed out something very vital: the differentiating bloodlines. I've tried to make them different and hopefully in a way that does not nerf or buff them. The most liberty I have taken at all with the whole thing is the Ryu clan, but I think that the point was to have a powerful fire-wielding person on the team. And lets not forget Ryuzen, who, just by possessing Rinnegan, is overpowered by default. I've tried to balance that out with a tremendous lack of jutsu the way they were during the cannon timeline and also with a heavy physical toll for using the Rinnegan. Despite hating to give out too many spoilers, I think its imperative to mention that Ryuzen's skills are based on the Deva path, Telekinesis and Mass Effect's Adept class, which I believe is quite similar to what the Deva Path does. And no, Ryuzen does not possess the ability known as the Six paths of Pain.**_

**Chapter Four**

'We will split up in groups to familiarize ourselves with the capital. Yoko, you will take Kenta and Yuumei. Seishiro, you will be with Daiki and Byakuya. I will be with Satsuki-chan and the Ghost. If anything happens you know what to do.'

His squad nodded and immediately split up in the appointed groups. Ryuzen looked at Satsuki who opted to stay close to him, not exactly thrilled with the over-crowdedness of the city. He didn't blame her. She had lived in a small community in the middle of no where but even there things had been times more advanced than some of the things they were seeing here. While the air was clean and not carrying the distinct scent of traffic polution, it also held some unpleasant surprises like the occasional whiff of bovine dung, not so fresh fish and stinky sewers.

There was also the fact that they were dressed in a distinctly different manner than the folks here and they were earning a lot of stares. The Ghost opted to stay on Satsuki's other side, while the blonde grasped one of his arms and found solace in his tall and broad figure. Ryuzen tried not to make his pleased smirk too obvious.

'Don't worry, Satsuki-chan. I'll make sure nothing happens to you. In fact, why don't we start our little tour over there?' He pointed towards a fruit stand and her golden eyes followed the path of his hand. It was some sort of a Bazaar, a market of some sort. Various plants and fruit were displayed in one part. Another carried the distinct salty scent of fish and there was even a meat stand. She managed to recognize only two or three of the wares for sale.

'Did you find something to your liking, Satsuki-chan?' The captain asked, velvety voice making her blush. He was slightly leaning towards her and she found hersel jerking slightly forward, pointing enthusiastically at what she'd later identify to be pears. The action snapped Ryuzen out of his flirt attempt and when he tried again, he caught the Ghost's creepy uninterested stare following his moves. He surpressed a gulp and straightened himself properly. Maybe getting the Ghost in his group of three hadn't been the best idea. Then again, she had to remain within 15 meters of him.

Ten minutes and a simple Illusion technique later, Satsuki was the proud owner of a bag filled with various vegetables and fruit and was happily munching on a sweet pear.

'Be sure to keep the seeds so Daiki can grow them into plants.' Ryuzen reminded with a note of amuzement in his voice. His glasses glinted in the sunlight as Satsuki looked up to him. She nodded with a mouthful of pear still being munched and he chuckled. It was hard to remind one's self that she was still somewhat of a child, with her tall and well developed figure.

'He can do that, Taichou?' she asked curiously, her eyes shifting to meet his gaze. A quiet startled sound escaped Ryuzen's lips. She called him Taichou. He chuckled.

'Call me Ryuzen, only Seishiro calls me Taichou on a regular basis. And yes, Daiki can do that and so much more. He is from the Kuroda family. His uncle Daisuke worked on the Moonbase project.'

'Kya!' she exclaimed in awe. 'Ne, Taichou- I mean Ryuzen-kun, is everyone on your team so awesome?'

'Of course! We are the Crème de la Crème, the best of the best! And then there are the Ghost Troopers, isn't that right Ghost-san?' he grinned at the pale girl, half-expecting her to stay silent.

'Hai, Taichou.' she stated in her typically calm demeanor.

He chuckled again.

**888**

Daiki and Byakuya were a lot more quiet than their usual bubbly natures. In fact, Seishiro found herself wanting them to chat in the background. That would've brought some sense of comfort to her strained nerves. It had started with the Ambush. With Kenta's devices not working, Taka's poor but slowly improving condition and Byakuya's predicament, it had been up to her and her keen senses to identify any possible threats. And she had failed that simple job. They had attacked early in the morning, against the wind current, preventing her from smelling them. They were dressed in camouflaged clothing and had prowled on them for the past seven hours.

It had been like a shock to her system. In her career up to this moment she was hard pressed to find individuals, let alone an entire group of people capable of such teamwork in the conditions of stealth, complete and utter radio silence. Even the Akatsuki no Dakusaido didn't train for such specifications. Not to that extent from what she was aware.

Their ambushers were seven in total. One woman and six men. The one thing that really stuck to her from the start of the ambush was that they bore some sort of scratched out symbols of various designs. Two with a stylized leaf design, one with a stylized sand clock and the rest she couldn't quite understand what they were. But they had one thing in common as stated before – all of the metal plates with these symbols were scratched.

The woman had been disposed of first. She had been the poisoned needle user that had managed to score a hit on the easiest target – the tied up Ghost Trooper. She didn't even expect the bulet that went straight through her temples, spraying blood all over the forest floor. One of the men had screamed at the sight and charged at her like a mad dog, wielding two small dagger-like black blades. He died mid air by a bullet in the heart. Two more met their demise the same way. One managed to sneak up to her but before he could do anything, he got a bullet in the forehead, point blank.

At this point their leader rushed at her with literally inhuman speed. Before she could even react, the man unleashed a Lightning technique and her entire body convulsed and dropped to the ground, completely paralyzed – conscious and in terrible pain, completely unable to move.

The man was preparing another Lightning attack, after making a series of what seemed to be some sort of hand signs. Seishiro was half-prepared to expect her death when she saw the tell-tale shimmering in the air above her. The Lightning technique collided with one of Ryuzen's barriers with a tremendous resounding crack. All Seishiro could see from her vantage point was Ryuzen's approaching figure and then she heard an almost silent 'Urk!'. Blood sprayed her feet and then there was the thud of a corpse falling on the ground. Ryuzen had crushed his heart. Not soon after she heard a very faint crunch and with that the last of their attackers was no more.

'Seishiro!' Ryuzen gave an alarmed shout. It took her a while to realize she was seeing dark spots before her eyes.

At that point Yoko had rushed in and prevented her death by paralyzed suffocation. Whatever that Lightning technique was, she had been completely unprepared for it. She had been unprepared from the beginning. Such basic tactics and yet they were so effective. She mentally cursed and it wasn't for the first time.

'Seishiro!'

She blinked and looked at Daiki with a slightly startled expression. She had wandered off with her mind. Something that rarely, if ever, happened.

'What is it?' she asked.

'Byakuya saw some people with that stylized leaf symbol. It wasn't slashed.'

Seishiro nodded and looked at her other compation, who had opted to keep his sun glasses.

'Don't use the Byakugan, Byakuya. Yoko warned you about it.' she said calmly.

'I do occasional glimpses and I avoid looking down. The city is a lot less...hmm, crowded... than the forest.'

'Why would you avoid looking down?' Daiki asked, confusion evident in his voice.

Seishiro just gave him The Look and he promptly dropped the topic. She then turned to to Byakuya.

'I opt to follow these people. See what we can find. And don't overdo it, Byakuya.'

What followed was the oddest game of hide and seek they had ever partaken of.

**888**

Hideyoshi Kuro was a 27 year old Jounin of Konohagakure. He was practically what one would call a veteran in his job, considering the fact that the average lifespan of a ninja on active duty in any one village was around 25 years. Most ninja opted to get to rank Chuunin or Tokubetsu Jounin which secured them more often than not with guarding, escorting and messenger type of missions. While the rank of Jounin brought a lot of prestige to those who had earned it, it also brought upon the nasties, like the A-ranks, S-ranks and the occasional SS-ranks that were more often than not left unmentioned in one's dossier.

Kuro was a seventh generation ninja, even though he wasn't from a specific clan or anything. He considered himself one of those cannon fodder folk that just happened to get the lucky pass and snatch the jounin rank. During the Jounin Exam he happened to land upon the only handicapped ninja and even then he barely scraped a win. It had been a bloody battle of wits, cunning and playing dirty. Three years later, he found himself saddled with his first Gennin Team, who he just knew were going to be as cannon fodder as he was. Only certain, elite type of ninja managed to get the creme de la creme – the clan children. People like Hatake Kakashi, who had gotten the Jinchuuriki, the Uchiha and that Haruno girl who was nowadays a well accomplished medic. Even though the Uchiha had opted to 'leave' Konoha, his performance at those Chuunin exams had been a riot. These certain type of ninja were the public face of Konohagakure. And ninja like himself did the dirty work like assassinations, spying, saboutages and what not.

Nowadays, two years after he had gotten his first Gennin team, he was doing what was considered a standard guard post duty. Not usually something a Jounin would do, but a Jounin-sensei with three Genin was a desirable combination. It was a C-rank and his brats were well enough prepared to handle the job. Hell, he was even considering letting them have a go at the up comming Chuunin exams. His girl was certainly ready for it. She had the most potential – an unusual combination of good chakra control and close range weapons expertise. The boys were a whole other matter all together. Sora was aspiring to become a medic nin, despite his difficulties with chakra control excersizes and Maburo was as genjutsu oriented as they got. All three were first generation ninja, from civilian families. Kohime, his girl, was the third child of a wealthy merchant family of low nobility. Seeing as she had two older brothers, her parents had decided she would be better off...well, Kohime had opted for the Shinobi career in stead of that option. Sora's parents were both civilian medics and his desire to become a medic himself had stemmed from the Sound-Sand Invasion. He had been a rare case for the Ninja Academy. For only a year he had managed to absorb to an acceptable level what was desired of him to qualify for Gennin. While in many ways lacking, such as in Taijutsu, he had proven to be his most dedicated brat of the bunch. Maburo was... hm, artistic. Born to a family of Blacksmiths, he was well versed in how to take good care of his equipment. It had been him who had gotten Kohime into close range weapons. But aside from that, Maburo was best suited for Genjutsu and that would be all he would ever say about the boy. The brat had some very deep personal problems, resolving around how he perceived himself.

'Another three hours and we can go back to our hotel.' Kohime sighed, ruffling her spiky short hair. Her chocolate eyes looked at Kuro. ' Can I do the report, Kuro-sensei? I've been practicing like you said and I think I've finally got it down.'

'There will be time for that, Kohime-hime.' he grinned at the girl who pouted and grumbled. For being such a beautiful girl it was odd to strive to be as masculine as possible. She hated being called hime, but every single person on her team called her that. 'If all goes to plan we will all be wolfing down barbeque at the Skipping Doe tomorrow night – my treat, of course.'

His brats cheered. Barbeque happened to be the one thing they had in common. That and the one time he had been mistaken for a single father with triplets. Kuro mentally sighed and chuckled at the memory. That old lady hadn't been too far off the truth. All three of his brats had just about enough problems with their families that more often than not spend their time at his house. Not that he found that to be a bad thing. Who doesn't like to wake up to the wonderful smell of Kohime's cooking? Or to find all of his weaponry completely spotless and given the royal treatment by a bored Maburo? And Sora was usually the person responsible for his house, a much too obvious 'Get a wife and start a family' gift from his parents, to smell like fresh laundry. He'd even finally gotten a competent medical cabinet in his bathroom.

All things considered, life was good when you were the Jounin-sensei of a bunch of teens that just happened to click amazingly well together. Who cared if they were Cannon Fodder? They were loyal shinobi of Konoha, they did their duty and in the end of the day, it was all that mattered. Kuro looked at his watch. Two and a half hours to go untill their shift was finally over.

**888**

'They're just kids.' Daiki blurted out as they passed a group of what seemed to be four mercenaries, all bearing that stylized leaf symbol.

The concept of something or someone being a 'kid' was an interesting one. Especially when you knew, at the tender age of ten that one day you will grow up to kill people in the name of Ruler and Country. There wasn't a single person in a clan community who hadn't been instructed at some point how to handle the most basic of weapons or fight with no weapons at all. Even Daiki, who had been the team's 'kid' had partaken of classes instructing how to kill someone in the most efficient possible way available. It didn't matter whether or not you were to become a killing machine, a simple driver or an accountant. You spend the first five to ten years in your life learning how to read, write, solve mathematical problems and kill people when you were told to do so.

For their team, or generally for anyone who had their up-bringing, a kid was someone who was painfully unfamiliar with death and war. Someone who still retained a semblance of innocence. Someone like the Ryu girl, Satsuki, who had both the incredible luck and misfortune to be raised as part of a nomadic community that happened to specialize in hunting and several very obscure forms sealing, if Daiki's observation of her skin was any indication. The fire-like swirly patterns that marred her sun-kissed skin were just too peculiar to be anything else but seals. He was no expert on such subjects, however, and the only information he ever got about various seals was from his Uncle Daisuke, who had such an extensive, three-dimensional pattern of seals placed upon his hands, that the seal's key could not be placed on a normal paper carrier. It was some sort of innovative laser technology that allowed for the creation of otherwise ridiculously impossible seal arrays.

Daiki still remembered the day when his uncle showed him how with a simple seal design he could literaly create water out of pure solar energy.

_'Daiki-chan! I want to show you something!' his uncle called him. The tall man with the trade mark Kuroda mouse brown shaggy hair smiled excitedly at his nephew. 'I've been working on something, but I want you to promise me not to tell anyone! I still don't know if it will work in the long term, but it's a start!'_

_Daiki's large eyes stared as his uncle fashioned a thin straight stick out of his Mokuton ability and started working on swirly patterns directly into the dry soil. It was a sunny day on the farm and his parents had opted a day for just the two of them. Daiki hadn't minded at all, seeing that his favourite uncle would be around. He was funny and witty and he often showered Daiki with his undivided attention. It wasn't that strange, really. Kuroda Daisuke was a bachelor and had no offspring of his own._

_Daisuke and Daiki stood waiting for what seemed to be five minutes or uncle had explained to him that sometimes it took time for the seal to gather the necessary energy, especially with arrays that were designed to be powered continuously by an outside source and not directly by their creator for a certain amount of time. At some point Daiki noticed the ground in the immediate area around the small but complex swirls of the seal dampening. Soon enough the seal dissolved from the accumulated water and now all that remained was a muddy puddle in the ground._

_'Ano, Uncle, I don't get it.'Daiki mumbled, scratching his head._

_'You don't need to understand it. Not yet at least. I don't understand how it works like that, myself, but I am working on it.'_

_'So, what happened?' Daiki persisted. All he had seen was the dry ground turn soft and muddy with water._

_'I made water.'_

_Daiki's confused scowl drew a hearty chuckle._

_'I turned sunlight into water, Daiki-chan.'_

At first, he hadn't thought much of it. In fact, he had completely forgotten about that particular event until, some 10 years later, his uncle was presented as the main reason for the success of Project Moonbase. Indeed, his uncle was known for his amazing control of the Mokuton. But Daiki knew where his real strenghts lied. His uncle was what could be described as a genius of sealing. That obscure, ancient art that made the westerners' Astrology and Alchemy look like serious science.

It was true that there were certain rules when it came to sealing. Things worked under some sort of logic that more often that not failed common forms of analysis. Many people simply learned seal arrays and rules by heart and worked from there. His uncle was not one of those people. Kuroda Daisuke was Madara-sama's current lead expert on sealing. It was because of him that he was able to score into the circle of the Elite and well into a job that merrited a substantial amount of stable monthly income. A life of luxury that his own parents lacked.

A waitress pulled Daiki away from his musings. His group had seated themselves not too far away from the mercenaries and now it was simply a waiting game. The Mokuton user smiled at the woman and ordered himself some tea.

Daiki iddly wondered what the others were doing.

**888**

Yoko casually strode over to the elderly woman behind the desk. Compared to her, both Yuumei and Kenta looked ridiculously out of place with their curious glances an slightly cautious steps.

'For goodness' sake! This is a library, not a secret mad scientist facility!' Yoko scolded them and then turned with a friendly smile towards the woman. 'Greetings. I would like to browse the catalogue if it's possible.'

When the elderly woman's face drew a blank at her request, Kenta just knew they'd be wasting time. 30 minutes later the three of them headed towards the Contemporary History section. Even Yoko looked slightly flustered.

'How can they not have a catalogue? It's the ultimate essential tool for libraries.' Kenta mumbled.

'Maybe the technology hasn't been developed yet. I haven't seen a single automated vehicle.' Yuumei suggested, also keeping her voice down.

'We're here.' Yoko said, looking at the large sign on one of the isles of the library.

'Why are we here again?' Kenta asked, skeptically examining a thick old book.

'Because we have no idea what we have landed ourselves into. The worst possible scenario is to remain in the dark.' Yoko stated and then looked at Yuumei. 'You know what to do.'

The White Uchiha nodded and started with the thickest book. Her sharingan was almost glowing with a bright red color in the dimly lit halls of this secluded section of the library. Yuumei turned pages every 15 seconds or so and in the matter of three hours she was done with all the books prepared for her. She rubbed her tired eyes and looked at where Yoko-sempai was sitting and reading a book. Kenta was not too far off, dozing on an old sofa.

'I am ready, but the information I have is difficult to understand.' the White Uchiha said. 'I believe our job here is done. We need to inform Ryuzen of our findings.'

**888**

'As you can all see, we have landed ourselves in a period of time before the creation of the Elemental Empire. From what I've gathered, there are two main types of specialized military units – the Samurai and the Shinobi. I believe our ambushers were Rogue Shinobi, or Missing Nin as they are also called.'

'Nin, Yuumei? As in ninja? That sounds kind of absurd.' Daiki exclaimed, the majority of the group agreeing with him.

'While both forces are under the direct control of the Daimiyo, who happens to be the feudal ruler of the country, the Shinobi live and train in a separate 'hidden' village. They operate under a kage, in our case the Hokage, and the Kage reports directly to the Daimiyo.'

'I still fail to see how this is important.' Seishiro grumbled, a light scowl marring her features.

'At this point in time, only Ninja and Samurai are capable of using chakra in any sort of combat capacity. The ways both units use chakra is inherently and fundamentally different. The majority of the population are incapable of controlling their reserves.'

'That would explain why the people around us looked so faint. Compared to them, those merce- I mean ninja we saw were like a torch next to a group of fireflies.' Byakuya added his two cents.

'If we go to the hidden village of Fire Country, there is a great chance we would be accepted in it.' Yuumei explained excitedly. 'You see, the Uchiha and the Hyuuga clans are part of Konohagakure no Sato. If we go there with some sort of cover story for why we've never showed up before-'

'We would have both work and place to stay and that would marginally increase our chances to find a way back!' Ryuzen snapped his fingers, a pleased grin stretching the lower half of his face.' I wouldn't've come up with a better idea than yours, Yuumei! You're a real angel!'

'The only thing that's left to do is to find this Konohagakure. It isn't present on normal, civilian maps and it is called hidden village for a reason. Maybe we could ask around and find some way to contact the village or...'

'That won't be necesarry. A group of Konoha ninja will be departing soon and we could easily follow them if Byakuya and Taka are up for the challenge.' Seishiro said.

'Well, all it's left us to do is think up of a solid cover for ourselves. Otherwise it is a brilliant plan.' Ryuzen said, and a thorough cover was discussed up until the wee hours of the morning. By that time Daiki and Yuumei were already sleeping quietly next to a snoozing Satsuki. Ghost was sitting calmly next to the Ryu girl, almost as if on watch. Yoko, Byakuya, Ryuzen, Seishiro and Kenta finally let themselves catch some Z's around sunrise, with Daiki and Yuumei awake and scouring the area around the abandoned warehouse they used for shelter. It was around noon when Byakuya finally announced that the four ninja were on the move and their group prepared to follow them at a sizable distance, with only the Hyuuga and the bird Taka as their guides.


End file.
